#073: Anne Wellington on the Success and Growth of the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator

After graduating four classes and 37 companies, this leading accelerator is breaking new ground. Again.

In this episode we’re talking about accelerators. Accelerators have been around since about 2005 and in the last 5 or 6 years, we’ve seen the development of new accelerators and programs that focus on the unique needs of entrepreneurs who are working to create new solutions for the healthcare sector. Accelerators are designed to accelerate the development of the ideas and solutions that will make the biggest impact, and, as we will hear about on this episode, they also accelerate failure so that entrepreneurs and investors can save valuable time and resources and apply their talents to other solutions.

To get the low-down on what accelerators do to succeed, we reached out to the managing director of one of the best-known health-focused accelerators, Anne Wellington. Anne is the managing director of the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator in Los Angeles. She’s been a part of the accelerator since March 2016, and she shares insights on their experiences as a healthcare organization working at the leading, bleeding edge of health innovation. Anne also shares some of the changes underway at Cedars-Sinai, and the opportunities available for startups in their upcoming 2019 class.

We know of course that things operate differently in healthcare, and governments, universities, corporations, investors, and even hospital systems have created special programs to provide the resources, access and environment to help startups create the products and services that are changing the face of healthcare. We also have a page in our Resources area that covers some of the programs that are available to help startups.

Lightning Round Answers

1- What is a saying, quote or phrase that motivates you?

“Perfect is the enemy of good enough”

2- What advice do you have for others working to innovate in healthcare?

Understand the problem that you are solving and develop empathy for the people who are engaged in the workflow. Because the closer you can collaborate with the end user, the better your solution will be.

Dan Kendall

ABOUT THE HOST

As an engineer and business leader, I've worked to develop, launch and scale innovative products and solutions that impact health and wellness. As an entrepreneur, I know firsthand what it takes to start a business, build a team, and compete in the global marketplace.

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